


Alderaanian Nights: The Scavenger & The Lamp

by jp2187



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Aladdin AU, F/M, Fluff, Meet-Cute
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-02
Updated: 2019-08-14
Packaged: 2020-07-29 15:24:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20084452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jp2187/pseuds/jp2187
Summary: In the great city of Alderaan, everyone is looking for something.Vizier Snoke is looking for a magic lamp in his quest for unlimited power.Scavenger street rat Rey is looking for anything she can trade for food.Crown Prince Ben is looking to get his mother off his back.His mother is looking for a princess that Ben will agree to marry.His father is looking for his stolen magic carpet.His pet tiger, Mitaka, might be looking for courage—as long as it’s not near another animal, someplace high off the ground, near a stranger, or associated with one of his many phobias.Threepio and Artoo are still looking for the long lost Princess Kenobi.Rey and Ben are not looking for love . . . but might find it anyway.





	1. The Dark Desert

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Erulisse17](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Erulisse17/gifts).

> For Erulisse17--for being utterly fabulous.

On a moonless night in the desert wasteland west of Alderaan, a dark man waited with a dark purpose.

In the distance the sound of a lone horse galloping through the sand could be heard long before it can into view by starlight. At last it halted and its two riders dismounted.

“You’re late,” the man said as he towered over the newcomers.

“A thousand apologies, oh patient one,” the scruffier of the new arrivals replied, bowing to the much taller man, “We were quite pressed for time.”

The other newcomer held the horse’s reins with one hand and remained silent. With his free hand he removed the hood of his cloak, and his hair was clearly red even in the dim light.

“Now where’s the treasure?” the scruffy man spoke again.

“Patience my friend . . . you’ll get what’s coming to you,” the tall man replied smoothly.

From inside the fold of his cloak the tall man removed two halves of a scarab beetle medallion, and carefully joined the pieces together. All of a sudden the beetle glowed golden and came to life—leaping into the air it flew into one of the nearby sand dunes.

All around the earth shook as giant rancor head with glowing red eyes emerged from beneath the sand. The giant beast opened its mouth, revealing the entrance to a cave that shone from within with a warm light.

“There you are—_The Cave of Wonders!_” the tall man said.

The scruffy man’s eyes shown with greed as he gazed into the cave—missing the glint in the tall man’s eyes as he gazed down at him.

“Now, remember! Bring me the lamp!” the tall man’s voice was suddenly louder and no longer sounded like silk, “The rest of the treasure is yours, but the lamp is mine!”

The scruffy man rubbed his hands together in anticipation as he strode forward towards the cave.

From behind him the red headed man shot his superior a glance that conveyed his low expectations, but otherwise continued to remain silent.

The scruffy man reached the cave’s entrance and raises a foot to step inside, when the rancor head suddenly came to life.

“Who disturbs my slumber?” the rancor head asked.

“It is I, Krennic . . . a humble thief,” the scruffy man replied.

“Know this,” said the cave, “Only one may enter here. One whose worth lies far within—a diamond in the rough.”

Krennic turned back to the tall man with a questioning look.

“What are you waiting for? Go on!” the tall man said in a voice that could freeze the hottest sands.

Krennic again raised his foot and this time set it down inside the cave. Sighing with relief as nothing immediately happened he continued forward.

The cave abruptly gave out a tremendous roar.

Chomping its mouth closed onto the less than worthy thief, the rancor head sunk back into the sand.

Neither of the on looking pair so much as flinched at Krennic’s sudden and grisly demise.

“Seek thee out the diamond in the rough,” the cave pronounced its by now familiar parting.

The rancor’s eyes dulled until all that remained was the two halves of the golden scarab beetle medallion.

For a moment the still living men stood motionless, staring at the spot where the cave had vanished.

The redheaded man finally broke the stillness by retrieving the two halves of the medallion, and handing them back to the tall man.

“Supreme Leader,” the redhead man said, flinching slightly as barely contained furry roiled off of the tall man, “In the search for this ‘diamond,’ we appear to be scraping the bottom of the barrel-”

“Keep looking!” snapped the tall man.

“Yes, Supreme Leader,” the redhead bowed his head in obedience, accepting his superior’s refusal to see the futility of their long search.

“I must have it, Hux,” the tall man vowed, “The lamp will be mine . . .”


	2. The Prince’s Predicament

The periodic “princess processions” that wound their way through the main thoroughfare of Alderaan had become a regular occurrence, and drew most of the city’s occupants to windows or side streets for at least a few minutes.

According to the city gossips, today was Princess Bazine Netal of Chaaktil’s turn to try and charm the notoriously hard to please prince, and secure the prize of a lucrative marriage alliance with Alderaan.

The crowd that lined the streets a few hours later to watch the rejected princess and her entourage storm out of the city was, as usual, even larger than the first one.

As Rey wove her way through the throng of onlookers—with nimble fingers relieving them of their valuables for the second time that day—she fervently hoped Prince Ben would never choose a princess, and the distracting spectacles that made her job so much easier would continue forever.

Pausing in a deserted side street catch her breath, Rey gave a low whistle.

A few seconds later an orange and white monkey appeared, and with a flying leap landed on Rey’s shoulder.

“There you are Abee-bee,” Rey said.

She smiled as the monkey screeched back a greeting, and dropped several bracelets into her hands.

Rey pocketed the bracelets, adding them to what she herself had managed to snag.

As she and Abee-bee made their way back to Jakku—the poorest slum in Alderaan—Rey smiled to herself.

As usual she was starving.

But thanks to the comforting weight in her pocket, today she and Abee-bee would eat well.

Her smile did not last long.

“What you brought me today is worth . . . one half portion,” Unkar Plutt pronounced.

“Last week they were a half portion each,” Rey replied, trying to keep her temper in check as she challenged the slum boss.

“Well for mouthy street rats it’s worth only a quarter,” Plutt snarled.

“I apologize for appearing less than grateful for your generosity,” Rey bit out through clenched teeth.

“And don’t you forget it, you wretched girl,” Plutt snapped.

Rey glared at him with resignation as she took her meager half portion, but knew better than to argue further.

The beefy bloated man ruled the slums with an iron fist. Street rats foolish enough to protest his calculated unfairness found themselves without access to any food at all.

Those with the gall to defy Plutt’s authority and attempt to get out from under his massive thumb found themselves quickly scooped up by city guard with whom Plutt had an “understanding.”

Since anyone who worked for the slum boss was definitely guilty of thieving, lazier guards could legitimately fill their arrest quota with tip offs from Plutt rather than doing any actual investigating.

And under the law, the price for stealing was a hand.

It was a barbaric practice, and Rey used to think that was the worst it could get.

Recently, however, whispers had begun swirling through the underworld that people were disappearing. Individually they were apparently just ruffians who no one would miss.

En masse their sudden absence was unsettling.

Meager foodstuff in hand, girl and monkey quickly headed away from the slum boss’ lair.

As they turned down a series of narrow streets in search of their friend Finn, Rey ripped off Abee-bee’s share and handed it to him.

The monkey gobbled it down, having learned long ago to eat his food quickly around Rey. As frequently occurred, Abee-bee’s greedy eating was soon proven prudent.

Rey, herself, had just taken her first bit when the pair rounded a corner and came upon two street urchins with pleading eyes.

The scavenger swallowed what she knew would be her only bite, and handed the rest of her portion to the small children.

They smiled gratefully up at her, and Rey filed the memory away for later when the hunger pains really kicked in.

“Rey!”

Raising her eyes at the sound of her name, Rey saw that Finn had found them. As her friend walked closer, he saw the smiling children he knew exactly what had happened.

Finn sighed.

“Rey . . .” he admonished, but only half-heartedly. After all, he too knew what it meant to be a small child and hungry.

“Come on,” Finn said in a much more cheerful tone, “Rose’s family had more fruit than usual going bad at their stand.”

Tossing a piece of fruit to each delighted urchin, Finn turned and walked back the way he had come, Rey walking beside him with Abee-bee on her shoulder.

After climbing a seemingly endless series of ladders, they finally made it back to the small room they shared atop one of the taller building in Jakku.

The hovel wasn’t much, but it had a sweeping view of the city and of course the palace.

As they sat to rest for a minute out of the midday heat, Finn finally handed Rey the bag of fruit.

The two friends sat together and watched the sun gleam off the golden palace roofs, as Rey devoured her first piece of fruit, oblivious to the slightly off taste.

“I wish I was a prince, lived in a palace, and didn’t have any problems,” Finn sighed.

“Umm,” Rey answered with her mouth full of fermenting fruit.

\-------------------------

Elsewhere in a much different part of the city, Alderaanian Crown Prince Ben Skywalker was celebrating the departure of the latest princess by having his usual argument with his parents.

And by parents he meant his mother.

“No.”

“Sweetheart, we can’t keep doing this.”

“No.”

“We are rapidly running out of princesses.”

“Then I won’t marry one.”

“Benjamin Skywalker, you are the Crown Prince of Alderaan—and you are going to marry a princess.”

“Why? You certainly didn’t marry a prince. You married a scruffy nerf herder.”

“Don’t argue with your mother,” his father chimed in on cue from across the room where most of his attention was engrossed in the game of Sabacc he was playing with Uncle Chewie.

Han Solo was still not a prince. His official title was Consort of the Princess Leia. He did not even have enough rank for his son to be allowed his last name.

His line of dialog supplied, Han got back to his game, and left his wife and son to their bickering.

“Our situations are hardly comparable. You will be Sultan someday.”

“Then I won’t get married at all.”

“I don’t know how many times I have to tell you—you _have to_ marry.”

“Why? Uncle Luke didn’t. The only reason I’m stuck being next in line is because he couldn’t be bothered to have any kids of his own.”

“Luke is a Jedi. He took a vow.”

“Then I’ll take a vow too.”

“Do you want to be a Jedi?” his father perceptively asked, briefly reentering the conversation.

The answer was no, Ben did not want to become a Jedi. Rather than again voicing that fact he chose to remain silent.

“Do you want to be the last Skywalker? Do you want our line to end because you are shirking your responsibilities?!” his mother wailed, now launching into her usual rant. “There’s always Vizier Snoke’s niece, Phasma. But it better not come to that Ben!”

“_No._”

Ben was absolutely not marrying Phasma.

“If only Princess Kenobi had not been lost. As your betrothed from birth, she could have settle this whole matter once and for all,” his mother continued, no longer talking to anyone in particular.

“It’s all my fault,” Threepio said in his most mournful and pathetic voice that he reserved solely for discussions of the lost princess.

The manservant walked to the center of the room to continue his usual lengthy and melodramatic apology.

Both Ben and his father shot looks at his mother for setting Threepio off.

She pretended not to notice.

It was hard to console the Threepio, Ben knew, when losing the princess really was at least partially his fault.

During the siege and eventual sack of Mandalore by marauders, Threepio and Artoo had been entrusted by the Kenobi family to smuggle the baby princess to safety. They had made it within sight of Alderaan before running into a pack of thieves, who relieved the trusted servants of all their possessions—including the bag hiding the tiny monarch.

The whole affair really was awful. By this point, however, there was nothing anyone could do about it, and Ben had long ago grown weary of hearing Threepio rehash the tale of woe.

As his mother loved to point out, if the Princess Kenobi had not been lost Ben would have been spared the endless procession of princesses who ranged from irritatingly simpering to Phasma—a princess from a small country of which he had not previously heard.

Although Ben now had to admit that Bazine could probably give the terrifying woman a run for her money.

Ben feared, however, that with his luck the Princess Kenobi would have been worse than all of them.

If there was one thing Ben hated more than anything else in the world, it was his family imposing royal customs and expectations on him they had not bothered to follow themselves.

As it was, the present post-princess argument ended as it usually did—with Ben storming from the room in search of a sympathetic ear.

Ben found Poe, son of the captain of the Sultan’s Guard and the Prince’s only friend, in the palace garden attempting to play with Ben’s tiger Mitaka.

Ben wished Poe luck.

Mitaka was scared of literally everything—other animals, strangers, heights, and on occasion even his own shadow.

Ben had personally witnessed Mitaka run away from a mouse when the gigantic cat attempted to hide himself behind Ben’s legs until the rodent scurried away.

Seeing Ben approach, Poe abandoned his futile efforts to engage the skittish tiger.

“Well?” Poe asked with raised eyebrows, “From the glimpse I got it seemed the Princess Bazine was above average in awfulness.”

“She was,” Ben replied, before announcing, “Come on, I need to get out of here.”

“I thought you might say that,” Poe answered with a smirk.

Poe handed Ben a bag full of clothes, which the Prince accepted gratefully.

Ben retreated behind an obliging tree, and quickly swapped his regal attire for the plain clothes Poe had brought. After shoving his palace clothes into the bag and stashing it into its usual hiding place, Ben reemerged.

Leaving Mitaka behind to fear for their safety, the two humans snuck out of the palace and into the bustling city beyond.

\-------------------------

Vizier Snoke swept into his private chamber atop one of the tallest towers in the palace to find Hux and Phasma lounging on an ornate sofa.

“The Sultan will be quite ill this evening,” he announce to his two apprentices.

Both Hux and Phasma looked at Snoke expectantly.

“No, he will be recovering . . . this time,” Snoke answered their unspoken question.

“It will, however, give the issue of the Prince’s marriage new urgency, and finally convince Princess Leia to force her son to marry immediately,” Snoke continued with a nod at Phasma.

“Then we can finally move on with the next phase of my plan,” Snoke concluded as he strode from the room.

“Yes, Supreme Leader,” the pair said in unison to his retreating back.

When they were once again alone the redhead turned to the platinum blond.

“I’m sick of pretending you’re my sister. Not to mention the idea of you marrying him makes me want to hurl,” Hux complained.

Phasma did not immediately answer, instead seductively crawling over to him and planting herself in his lap.

“Don’t worry, my love,” she said as she caressed his face, “The Prince’s life expectancy after the wedding will be quite short.”

Hux and Phasma’s matching evil grins met in a passionate kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Your comments and kudos are much appreciated.


	3. Rey to the Rescue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the Prince meets a lovely scavenger and schemes.

“Come on _Kylo_. We need to get back,” Poe said, addressing his friend by the alias Ben insisted upon when they were outside the palace.

The two boys had been exploring a new area of the city, one decidedly seedier than which they usually frequented.

Poe was growing increasingly uncomfortable being there—especially with the Prince—and as the sun beginning to sink lower as the afternoon wore on, he was glad for an excuse to return to the palace.

Being a prince had given Ben a bravado and fearlessness that did not adjust to their current surroundings. He nonetheless acquiesced to Poe’s insistence that they end their excursion with his friend taking the lead.

Just before rounding a corner onto a wider street a small child reaching for a piece of fruit caught Ben’s attention.

Feeling magnanimous, Ben unthinkingly picked up the fruit and handed it to the child.

“Oh, you must be hungry. Here you go,” Ben said, smiling as the happy child scampered away.

“You better have money to pay for that!” said an enourmous man who emerged from behind the fruit stand.

“Money?” Ben said suddenly realizing his mistake. “I don’t have any, but let me get my friend-”

He frantically looked for Poe . . . who had already turned down the other street and was nowhere in sight.

“Thief! No one steals from my stand!” the man declared.

“I’ll get it for you, I promise,” Ben stammered.

“Do you know what the penalty is for stealing?!” the man yelled.

Before Ben knew what was happened the beefy man had grabbed his hand and drawn his sword.

As Ben opened his mouth to again protest and attempted to pull away from the man’s surprisingly strong grip, a lithe figure suddenly stepped between him and the irate cart owner.

Staying the man’s sword arm with both of her hands, she exclaimed, “Thank you, kind sir. I’m so glad you found him!”

“You know this boy?” the man said, suddenly confused.

“He is my brother,” the girl declared, before turning to Ben with annoyance, “Who I’ve been looking every where for!”

Ben was not sure why this girl was helping him, but was happy play along, especially since he could feel the cart owner’s grip on his arm beginning to loosen.

“Ah, Sis-” Ben started—before abruptly snatching his hand out of the man’s grip.

As soon as he was free, the girl kicked out one of the cart’s legs, and sent fruit spilling onto the street.

The owner screamed in rage and lunged at the pair.

With fruit rolling on the ground separating them from the man, the girl quickly grabbed Ben’s other hand and sprinted away.

She led him down several side streets and up a series of ladders. It was not until they were safely atop a roof far away from the ill-fated cart, that they finally stopped to laughingly catch their breath.

“Thank you for saving me . . .” Ben said with gratitude as he fished for her name.

“I’m Rey,” she supplied with a smile.

“Thank you, Rey,” Ben amended with a smile of his own, before disingenuously adding, “I’m Kylo Ren.”

Rey’s smile broadened.

As Ben looked into her eyes, sparkling in the late afternoon light, he thought to himself, _“Why can’t princesses be like this?”_

His sharp mind launched onto the idea, and quickly wandered in the direction of the Princess Kenobi.

The woman who could put an end to the ridiculous situation in which he was currently trapped.

The long lost princess no one would recognize . . .

_Why not indeed._

“Actually Rey, my name isn’t Kylo Ren. It’s Prince Ben Solo,” Ben said.

Rey crossed her arms and raised a disbelieving eyebrow at him. Although she clearly did not believe him, she was nonetheless willing to hear him out.

“As I was saying, Rey. Thank you for rescuing me,” Ben said, inclining his head in a slight bow, before adding, “There is another matter in which I was hoping you could assist me.”

The street-smart girl’s eyes were still bright but now also narrowed in suspicion.

“It’s nothing . . . untoward,” he assured her.

Well not overtly so anyway.

In his mind Ben could hear his mother screaming for grandchildren. He decided, however, he would circumvent that bridge when he came to it.

“In case you haven’t noticed all the processions, my mother is insisting I get married,” Bed said with a vague wave of his hand.

From the way her mouth curled into an attractive smirk, Ben could see she was well acquainted with his predicament.

“Yes, _your majesty_,” Rey said, still not believing him.

“The only way out at this point is for someone I can stand being around for more than five minutes to pretend to be the long lost Princess Kenobi,” Ben continued.

Rey did not immediately respond, and from her look Ben could tell she wanted to tell him that some people had real problems.

He could also tell, however, that she found the idea amusing enough to hypothetically play along for at least a little while longer.

“And where is the Princess Kenobi supposed to have been all this time? And why is she suddenly showing up now?” Rey asked.

_Good question._

It was not for nothing, however, that Ben was the son of Han Solo, Consort of the Princess Leia, and coming up with ridiculous plans on the fly that might actually work was thankfully a genetic gift.

“I know. You ended up being raised in the court of King Prana. He’s notoriously fickle. He also collects weird and dangerous creatures. Maybe you were unsettled by the new Rathtars he recently acquired, and he thought it best to finally send you to Alderaan. Yes, I think my mother would buy that,” Ben declared, with a flash of his radiant smile.

Although Rey remained silent as she watched him scheme, both of eyebrows were now raised traveling progressively higher up her forehead.

“Seriously, Rey. Come to the palace with me and I’ll prove it to you,” Ben continued his desperate pitch get his mother off his back, “We can help each other. You pretend to be the Princess Kenobi and marry me, and you can come live at the palace and get off the street-”

“I want to feed the orphans in the slums,” Rey laid out her much more selfless terms.

The part of Ben that would one day make him a good ruler instead of a spoiled prince pointed out that feeding their people was something he and his family should clearly be doing a better job of without asking for anything in return.

Today the spoiled prince prevailed.

“Deal,” Ben said, extending his hand to Rey.

As their hands met to shake on the ridiculous plan, both Ben and Rey were startled by the electricity that seemed to pass between them.

They stood staring into each other’s eyes with their hands clasped for several heartbeats longer than was necessary, before Rey suddenly blinked and withdrew her hand.

“Help me get back to the palace, and we can start figuring out the details,” Ben said.

Rey smiled at Ben in a way that made his chest briefly constrict, before dropping over the edge of the roof and onto a waiting ladder.

Ben followed Rey back down to the ground, and through the winding streets of Alderaan.

They were half way back to the palace when they ran into a frantic Poe, his father Kes, and group of both palace and city guards.

All thought of anything else driven from his mind by his near escape and the lovely scavenger who had rescued him, Ben now recalled with a pang that his friend was likely in a panic over his disappearance.

“Prince Ben!” Captain Kes exclaimed.

Poe ran forward and clasped his friend’s still intact hand.

“Thank goodness you’re alright!” Poe said.

“Yes, thanks to-” Ben replied turning to Rey, just in time remembering not to say her name in front of the palace guards.

Rey looked between Ben and Poe, clearly taken aback that Ben had been telling the truth.

She was just opening her mouth to say so when the city guards suddenly noticed her.

“Seize her!” one of them exclaimed.

“What?! Wait, stop!” Ben shouted to no avail.

Rey looked at him with pleading eyes as the city guard dragged her away.

“She’s a known thief, my Prince. Never caught until now,” the head guard informed him before adding, “Grand Vizer Snoke ordered that all apprehended ruffians be jailed at least overnight. If you want her released you’ll have to take it up with him or the Sultan.”

_Oh boy would he._

It was definitely a sign of growth that Ben was more worried about the girl who had been arrested for helping him than his mother’s impending fit of hysterics that he had left the palace . . . again, but at least she didn’t know that.

Rushing back to the palace, Ben immediately located the Vizer and confronted him about the situation with Rey.

Ben’s concern for someone else was a striking departure from his usual self-absorbed complaining, and Grand Vizer Snoke took notice.

And who had inspired this transformation?

A scavenger presently locked up in the city jail . . .

“Do not worry, my Prince. I shall look into the matter . . . personally.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for the comments and kudos. They are much appreciated.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading!


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